


And the moonlight in your eyes

by newtmasdoesthedo



Series: Well, except Newt. He calls me Tommy. [15]
Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3819817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtmasdoesthedo/pseuds/newtmasdoesthedo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt's roommate Thomas has a very active sexlife and he wants Newt to have some fun too. Newt gets to writing with a really funny bloke with a really odd screenname, only he's quite surprised at who is standing in front of him when he finally shows up for his date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And the moonlight in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. This was an award for the lovely [shuckingnewmas](http://shuckingnewmas.tumblr.com/) who won the award for best URL in the newmas awards on the [ back in December. As many of you know I've been busy and stressed out - which is why it's only out now. 2\. This was betaed by my wonderful friend and co-mod ](http://newmasnetwork.tumblr.com)[5secondsofnewtmas](http://5secondsofnewtmas.tumblr.com). Thanks love! <3

Newt’s first reaction when Thomas had told him to make a profile on this dating app his roommate had found was to roll his eyes. That wasn’t surprising in its own right, because Newt generally rolled his eyes quite a lot. The fact of the matter was, Newt didn’t exactly walk around looking for a boyfriend. He wasn’t against the idea of finding someone, he just wasn’t actively looking, and he hadn’t thought that Tommy was either. The two of them had known each other for a long time. They’d been friends ever since they were just two little buggers living next door to each other, and moving in together with one of his best friends in the world (only challenged by Alby and Minho) had just made sense. It still did. Newt appreciated having Thomas in his life. Thomas had a carefree, sunny disposition, and sometimes Newt really needed that. He knew that living on his own wasn’t really an option for him, because he tended to get up in his own head a lot, which meant that him living on his own would just be a catastrophe. So he’d moved in together with Thomas, and he was happy.

They had a sort of easy companionship that Newt appreciated. Thomas was one of the best people he knew. The guy would do whatever it took to make sure the people around him were okay, just like Newt would, and even if Thomas acted a bit rashly at times, his heart was definitely in the right place. They were good for each other like that. Newt helped keeping Thomas in check, Thomas helped making sure that Newt didn’t overthink things too much. They rarely talked about their sex and dating lives, mostly because Newt wasn’t the sharing type, but also because it just seemed weird somehow. Newt didn’t want to know what Thomas got up to, though he knew that both boys and girls guest-starred in between Thomas’ sheets from time to time. He didn’t want the specifics, though. It made him feel weird. They’d probably just known each other for too long and that was perfectly fine. There was an unspoken rule between the two of them that if there was someone the roommate should know about, they’d just come out and say it. Thomas’ hook-ups hardly ever came around again, though, he seemed to prefer one night stands to deeper connections. Newt didn’t make it his business to judge, and he might even be a bit relieved that he didn’t have to spend his time getting to know Thomas’ sex-partners.

Newt mostly avoided Thomas’ one-night stands and Thomas avoided his. There had been that awkward situation some time ago where Thomas had been dating a girl named Brenda and Newt had had no idea what to say to her. He hadn’t liked her much but of course he’d never told Thomas. It wasn’t up to Newt to decide who Thomas was allowed to see. So he’d held his tongue on his doubts about Brenda’s motivation for being with Thomas, and he wasn’t certain if Thomas had done the same for him. After all, Newt knew that his taste in men could be somewhat questionable at times.

Which was another one of the many arguments he’d given Thomas for not making a profile on a dating app. What would the point be anyway? Newt wasn’t looking for something serious. He didn’t want to have to search it out. He wasn’t looking for a relationship because he was happy where he was. Him and Thomas in a small apartment, hanging out most nights on their very big, very soft and very old and ugly couch was just what he wanted from life. He didn’t need someone to complicate it and make a lot of relationship drama where it wasn’t needed.

Thomas had taken a painstakingly long time to explain to him that it was just a fun idea. That dating didn’t have to lead to something serious every time. That Newt didn’t even have to have sex with these people if he didn’t want to. That it was just getting to know someone, having fun, testing the waters. Trying to find out more about what he actually wanted for when he got to wanting it.

In the end Newt had given up, and it wasn’t so much because he was convinced, as it was because Thomas could be really annoying when he wanted to. And Newt really wanted some alone-time after having been inexplicably horny all day, and he needed Thomas to back the fuck off if he was going to get a good wank in before dinner.

So he’d given up; he’d bend to Thomas’ will and he’d downloaded the app. He’d told Thomas to back off and not try to find out anything about Newt’s profile. Newt didn’t need his obnoxious friend to butt in. If Thomas was going to force him to date people, he wasn’t going to have any influence on what got into Newt’s profile. He wasn’t going to help picking out pictures or a screen name or anything like it, because that would feel like Thomas helping him getting laid and it was just bloody weird.

“Have fun, remember to use protection.” Had been Thomas’ last, horrible joke before he’d left Newt alone. The profile had been set up, the wanking had been done and Newt had returned to writing his profile. It was weird. It was awkward. How did you sell yourself, when you weren’t even sure you wanted someone to buy?

‘English, I can do an accent if you’re being a good boy about it. Won’t give up my name here, too weird if you find me on Facebook. You can never be too bloody sure, so many lovin’ weirdos on the internet. Enjoy reading, sarcasm and coffee.’

He’d pondered on whether he should add some more personal details, some tries to play up his good characteristics but in the end he’d decided that he wasn’t going to put that much effort into this. This way he could honestly tell Thomas that he’d made a profile and getting his roommate off of his back was pretty much the whole point of doing this if he was being honest.

When dinner came around Newt was already engrossed in this whole dating app thing. Someone had written him. ‘green-is-my-favorite-color’ was a bloody ridiculous screenname, of course, but the bloke was genuinely funny, and Newt thought he might as well give the lad a chance. After all, his own screen name was ‘bloody-inspired’, so he wasn’t one to judge at all.

“Are you writing someone already?” Thomas’ face was absolutely gleeful. Newt just shrugged. He wasn’t about to let Thomas in on the casual banter he had going with this guy. They were basically joking about the guy being a stalker and finding out where Newt lived, but the bloke managed to do it in a way that didn’t seem creepy. He actually seemed pretty harmless but not in a bad way. It was weird, really, because Newt wasn’t one to go out and flirt but he found himself enjoying this. The small jokes brought smiles on his face and maybe this whole flirting thing wasn’t so bad. He could hardly be expected to commit to this guy already and for now it was just in good fun, but the talking they did over dinner was pretty limited. Thomas seemed just as engrossed in his phone as Newt was caught up in his own, and it could probably be categorized as their most anti-social dinner ever. Newt made a mental note to not make this a habit, because the dinners with Tommy was actually one of the things he enjoyed quite a bit in his everyday life. This whole dating-thing was just new and interesting and after all, it was Thomas himself that had gotten Newt into this, which meant that the Englishman could hardly be blamed for it.

___________________

green-is-my-favorite-color: ‘how’s it going? how was dinner with the roommate yesterday? are you still ignoring him every night?’

bloody-inspired: ‘I’m alright. I hardly talked to him, I was bloody chatting to you every lovin’ second of the night. I don’t know if I should be disappointed that he doesn’t even seem to notice that I don’t speak to him anymore.’

green-is-my-favorite-color: ‘i’m flattered. maybe i should actually stalk you and figure out where you live so i can apologize to him for claiming your time.’

bloody-inspired: ‘It’s fine, he was texting himself. he’s actually the one that got me to try this thing. Have I mentioned that your screen name is bloody ridiculous? I’m going to just call you Greenie from now on, way easier than thinking of you as green-is-my-favorite-color.’

green-is-my-favorite-color: ‘we’d be spared this if you’d just tell me your name. are you that nervous that i’ll actually stalk you?’

bloody-inspired: ‘A wee bit if I’m honest. I mean, you’ve already threatened to stalk me and seek out my roommate and I’ve barely known you for a full week. The guys I date normally pretend to be normal until about third date. Can’t blame a guy for being worried when you’re suddenly here, honest about your stalker tendencies from day one.’

green-is-my-favorite-color: ‘oh, no luck in love? maybe we could go on a date to see if that could change? i’m not actually a stalker. i really hope that was clear. sometimes i forget to think things through before i write them.’

bloody-inspired: ‘Now there’s a shock. Your screen name never gave me that impression…’

green-is-my-favorite-color: ‘didn’t your momma teach you that sarcasm doesn’t translate well over text?’

bloody-inspired: ‘No, but she taught me that when a guy invites you out he’s supposed to tell you a bloody place and time.’

And with that Newt found himself with a date. He wasn’t entirely certain how this had occurred, but somehow it had, and he found himself thinking fondly about Greenie way more than he probably had any right to. He wasn’t even sure that the bloke wasn’t a complete psychopath. He hadn’t seen a picture, he didn’t even have a name. It was a bit risky, but he’d made that decision for them because he didn’t want to give too much away about himself in case the bloke was a weirdo. And it was sort of exciting not knowing, but he wasn’t about to admit that.

Thomas, of course, had realized that he was writing with someone. His friend couldn’t really not notice. Newt hadn’t given him a lot of detail, though, partly because he didn’t want Thomas to butt in, but also because he didn’t want to give Thomas the satisfaction of knowing that Newt had actually found someone that made him chuckle out loud when he was alone in his room, writing with Greenie. They had a weird sort of chemistry when writing, and Newt was a bit surprised that he’d gotten so lucky with this thing so fast. He wanted to keep it to himself, he didn’t want to share this experience with Thomas yet. Although he sort of had to.

“Hey Tommy?”

“Yeah?” Thomas looked up from going through their laundry basket, groaning in annoyance when he apparently found what he was looking for, “Damn, I thought I’d washed it. I hoped it wasn’t here. I’m so sorry, Newt, but can I borrow a shirt? I have a date tonight but I don’t have anything to wear.”

Newt wrinkled his nose. The thought of Thomas wearing some of his clothes to a date wasn’t exactly pleasing – he wasn’t sure why, it just wasn’t. He wasn’t about to say no, though, because he needed a favor, so he nodded towards his room. “Sure, let’s go, I need to talk to you anyway. I have a date tonight too, and I need you to be my emergency contact,” he stated, not really waiting for a response because he assumed that there wouldn’t be a problem. Thomas had always been weirdly protective of him. He knew the other bloke wanted to make sure that he was safe.

Thomas followed him into the room, smiling but making no comment before moving over to the wardrobe. “How come you need an emergency contact?” he asked, opening the wardrobe door, “Are you meeting the mystery guy? Should I put extra effort into my date tonight so I’ll have a plus-one for your wedding?” he laughed, quickly glancing at the row of neatly hanged variety of pants before winking at Newt over his shoulder. “I’ll be expecting to be your best man since you’re totally talking to this guy because of me,” Thomas chit-chatted, flipping through Newt’s shirts casually. Newt refrained from making a comment, smiling because Thomas was at least partly right. He really liked chatting to this guy.

“Do you have a picture of him?” his roommate asked and turned, holding a white T-shirt up in front of his body.

Newt shook his head to both. “It’s gonna be too tight on you,” he said, moving to the wardrobe and pulling out a dark blue button shirt. It wasn’t that Thomas wouldn’t fit it, it was that Newt didn’t exactly enjoy the thought of some bloke seeing Thomas in something so tight-fitted on their first date. It would only make Thomas’ date think that Thomas was only there for a hook-up and he’d end up getting used. Newt couldn’t have that. He wanted to protect Thomas and if he had to go a little momma-bear to do that, that was fine by him.

“I don’t have a picture, that’s why I need an emergency contact. I don’t know what he looks like because I was too paranoid to put any pictures on my profile. He said that that wasn’t fair so he removed his pictures before I could look at them.”

Thomas laughed, shaking his head as though that was all too familiar to him. “Well, there are a lot of freaks out there, I get why he wouldn’t show his face to a nerd like you if you wouldn’t show yours to him. I’ve been in that guy’s shoes plenty of times, even with my date for tonight. I think he’ll be fine, though. He’s an odd fellow but he’s nice. I get the sense that he’s not, I don’t know why,” he paused for a second, looking at Newt’s face without actually seeing, “Might be the sarcasm.”

Newt rolled his eyes. “No shit? Put on the shirt so we can see how it fits,” he snorted. Tommy on a date with a potentially hot, snarky stranger sort of worried him. He wasn’t entirely certain yet that Thomas wouldn’t get himself hurt.

Said brunet just flashed him a bright smile, shrugged and pulled his shirt over his head. Newt couldn’t exactly help the way his eyes roamed over Thomas’ back.

Tommy had really been hitting the gym lately, and Newt couldn’t help enjoying the effects. Even if his roommate was a major nerd, any guy would be lucky to have him. Newt just hoped that whatever guy or girl got him was actually deserving of it. Newt couldn’t deny to himself that he’d felt a twinge of attraction every once in a while. He would never act on it, of course. Thomas was his friend and his roommate, and the only really important thing was that Thomas had a nice date tonight, even if the thought made Newt feel a bit jealous.

The tanned, muscular back was covered up way too fast in Newt’s opinion, but he obviously couldn’t say that, and he’d never dream of complaining, seeing as Thomas turned around while staring to button the shirt up.

Fortunately he was able to stop himself from ogling Thomas too much. He could have described the bloke’s abs in perfect detail without looking anyway. That might sound a little creepy, but the bloke really didn’t bother much with shirts, and Newt would be inhuman to not look even a little bit when Thomas was parading around the apartment wearing practically nothing. He wasn’t a predator or anything, he knew that he wasn’t allowed to make a move on Thomas, and that was fine with him. He didn’t want to actually risk what they had anyway.

Abs and chest were covered up slowly and Thomas rolled up his sleeves, flashing Newt one of those heartbreaker smiles that made Newt wonder why the bloke even needed a dating app. “How do I look?”

Newt’s heart might have leaped just a tad in his chest at the sight of him. If his date for tonight was even half as handsome… “You look great, Tommy. You’ll blow him out of the water.”

Thomas winked. “Unless you need me.”

The smile Newt’s face stretched into started out forced but ended up genuine. Thomas would actually cancel his date for Newt, he knew that much. “Unless I need you.”

Thomas’ smile twisted into a smirk, “Try not to call after 9 though, yeah? If he’s as hot as I think he is, I plan to take him home.”

Newt rolled his eyes softly, smile growing just a little more strained. If his date went horribly and he came home to listen to Thomas bang some random guy his mood might take a sudden dive for the worst. He was regretting letting Thomas borrow his shirt already.

They didn’t talk that much for the rest of the day. There wasn’t a lot to say after reassurances that they’d both be fine, so they hung out in front of the TV and carefully didn’t mention anything about dates at all, which was sort of weird but also weirdly cozy because Newt didn’t actually mind. Thomas felt a bit weird when they talked about Newt’s date with his overly enthusiastic attitude towards it and Newt didn’t actually want to hear about Tommy’s date if he was completely honest with himself. Which was why his own date was kind of important, because the sooner he found an nice bloke to date (or even just drag home for the night, really) the quicker he’d be fine with his roommate dating someone, which was definitely something that one should make a priority in Newt’s opinion. Hanging out with Thomas had always come naturally, and it did now too as soon as they stopped talking about the dates. It was good, Newt was happy with the arrangement and until Thomas stated that he was going to start getting completely ready Newt didn’t really think a lot more about the whole thing.

He didn’t make much comment, just walked into his own room and put on the tight jeans and the T-shirt Thomas had helped him pick out. The jeans had been more him, the T-shirt had been Thomas. He’d argued that this guy should get to know Newt as he was – in his plaid shirt and with his hair sticking out under a dark blue knitted beanie that made his eyes pop (at least that’s what Brenda said when she give it to him last Christmas). So here he was, styling his hair carefully even though he knew it was going to be hidden under a beanie for the entire night, and he realized that he was actually feeling a little bit jittery. He really hoped this guy was as amazing as he seemed.

Engineering student (‘like Tommy,’ his brain supplied unhelpfully and Newt grimaced at the thought, sticking his tongue out at himself in the mirror), 23 years old, brunet, brown eyes, a little bit shorter than Newt himself. This guy had the lamest screen name ever but he seemed nice. He checked if Newt had had a nice day every day, he asked about things Newt had told him about and he seemed genuinely good-natured. Now if only he wasn’t some freak who’d been trying to lure Newt into some weird trap, they should be set for something that could at least be worth exploring. He was aware that people sometimes weren’t the same over text as they were face to face, but he couldn’t help but hold high hopes for this bloke.

“I’m going Tommy, good luck!” he called as he pulled on his bomber jacket down from the rack next to Thomas’ leather jacket, and he waved over his shoulder as he heard Thomas bounding into the small hallway of their apartment. It was tiny, really, but it didn’t matter much when it was just a walk-through. The apartment being tiny would only be a problem if Thomas got laid tonight and Newt didn’t because the walls were a lot thinner than Newt preferred if something like that was going to be happening. He put it out of his mind, though, not wanting to think about his roommate as he went on a date with another guy, and managed not to think about Thomas at all for the entire way to the small restaurant he was meeting green-is-my-favorite-color at.

It wasn’t too fancy, which was actually a bit of a relief, seeing as Newt wasn’t really dressed for formal. He’d just asked Brenda and Teresa about the place before coming here because they knew literally every single place you could eat in the general vicinity and they’d confirmed that it wasn’t the fanciest of places. He only now realized that their estimation of what fancy was could actually have varied from his own and put him in a pretty awkward position. Luckily it hadn’t, though, which meant that now Newt was standing in front of a cozy-looking Italian place with red-and-white checkered tablecloths, candlesticks made of old red wine bottles and dim lighting. It was pretty perfect, actually, and it fitted his idea of the guy he was meeting pretty well. Now the only thing there was left to do was hope that there weren’t a lot of brunets with brown eyes sitting alone at a table. And there wasn’t. Only a single one with his back to Newt in a blue shirt. He quickly shot a message to green-is-my-favorite-color.

‘Are you wearing blue?’

The answer came almost immediately and the bloke at the table did look like he was texting.

‘Yeah, r u here?’

Newt took a deep breath and steeled himself before walking into the restaurant and making his way over to the table after having smiled at a waiter who had looked like she was about to meet him halfway. No reason. He already knew where he’d be sitting, and his butterflies told him that he was definitely going to need a glass of wine.

What if this guy was a freak? What if he wasn’t as nice as he seemed? What if he was a crazy rapist? What if he was really, really into toe-sucking, what if, what if, what if. What ifs were spinning around his head like tiny birds, attacking him at every turn like that scene in Harry Potter where Hermione attacked Ron Weasley, and really, Ron was being a major bloody jerk so Newt could totally understand that, she had every right to be angry with- He shook his head slightly to snap himself out of it. Maybe he should worry about not being a freak himself instead of comparing his love-life to Harry Potter and wondering if the guy in front of him was a huge dork. He sighed slightly to himself and took a deep breath, walked the last two steps and put his hand on the other guy’s shoulder. “Hi, I’m guessing you’re the bloke I’m meeting. You’re not getting me to say your screen name out loud, so I’ll need a name. I’m Newt.”

He couldn’t help noticing that the shirt the guy was wearing was actually really nice, and the way it stretched over broad shoulders definitely didn’t turn him off of meeting the guy. Maybe he’d actually hit the jackpot here, and Newt wasn’t about to question a good thing when it came up and punched him in the face (except Newt was one to question every good thing that happened to him, waiting for the other shoe to drop almost constantly, and oh did it drop.)

“Hey, that’s weird, my roommate’s name is-…”

When Thomas turned his head the sentence died on his lips and Newt froze completely. “Why the bloody hell are you on my date, Thomas?”

Thomas frowned. “Why the hell are you on my date?!”

Newt rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, you can pack your huge ego away, Tommy, it’s not like I followed you or something.”

Thomas stared at him and slowly a mix of understanding and horror dawned on his face. “Oh no. It can’t be you, are you serious, this is like straight out of a movie, I don’t understand how I didn’t see it.”

Newt blinked. “What are you on about?” he asked, annoyance coloring his voice because this wasn’t how this was supposed to go! He was going to find a nice, hot guy who would make him forget about Thomas, and instead Thomas was sitting in the seat where Newt’s dream guy should have been sitting. This wasn’t fair! “Thomas, where is green-is-my-favorite-color?”

Thomas leaned down to rest his face on the top of the table and Newt’s hand slid off his shoulder and bumped against his own side. “I am green-is-my-favorite-color. You never told me his screen name, Newt. I’m the person you’ve been writing.”

Well that was a punch in the face.

“Okay wait. Let me get this straight,” Newt sighed, sitting down on the opposite side of the table, still a bit confused about this whole thing. He’d been so ready to see where this could go.

“That’s a funny choice of words,” Thomas remarked, although Newt effectively silenced him with a death-glare that would have made Gally proud.

His head was spinning just a little. This was not what he wanted. “So, the guy that I’ve been telling about my every day life was you. And you never put two and two together and realized that it might be me? The snarky Englishman who lived with a roommate called Thomas and studied the exact same thing as me? And had the same problems?”

Thomas shrugged. “You haven’t really talked to me a lot, you’ve been writing with… well, me I suppose? I had no idea what was going on in your life and I thought the other two things were mere coincidences – and don’t pretend like you shouldn’t have figured it out too.”

Newt blinked. Thomas was right. This was equally embarrassing for the both of them when you thought about it really hard, because Newt hadn’t even given it a single thought that the person he was talking to might be Thomas. “Wait, you never mentioned a roommate. Why didn’t you talk about me?”

Another shrug. “I didn’t feel like it was appropriate talking about the guy I lived with to the guy I was taking on a date. You, on the other hand, talk about me a lot. Am I really that funny?”

Fortunately, Newt was prevented from stabbing himself to death with a fork when a waiter came over, although it was a close call. This entire situation was a disaster and he wanted to go home, curl up in his bed and never come out. Except even if he stayed indoors forever this situation wouldn’t go away because Thomas would be there. “What can I get you boys? First date? That’s exciting!” the peppy waitress said, smiling widely at them, and Newt sort of wanted to punch her, then punch himself for wanting to punch her because this wasn’t really anyone’s fault but his own. “Tommy, why did you even show me that app, this is all your fault.”

Thomas looked away from the waitress (who was eyeing him a bit more than Newt really liked seeing as she assumed that he was on his first date) and over at Newt, frowning again. “Hey, that’s not fair, I was just trying to help you because you’d seemed so quiet when I brought people home lately. You were weird about it so I assumed that you were lonely. I was just trying to help. Seriously.”

The waitress, looking a bit shocked and confused, wavered, seemingly wanting to leave. “I can give you guys another five minutes if you want to look the menu over again?” she tried unsteadily, and Newt waved his hand at her slightly.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m leaving,” he stated, and the poor girl backed up and quickly made her way to another table, no doubt giving them the same nice, peppy welcome. Newt already felt bad for snapping at her, but he really couldn’t focus on that right now. He needed to focus on Tommy. “I never asked for your help, Thomas, stay out of my business,” and then he stood up, readying to go and almost making it before Thomas grabbed his wrist.

“Come on, Newt, don’t be like that, you know I didn’t mean any harm. This could be a potentially hilarious story, don’t leave. We can just have dinner, it’s not like we’ve never eaten together before. This was a mix-up, if you want to we can find another guy for you to date and write him right now?” he offered, and Newt stared at him, annoyed that his annoyance was already fading. It was really hard to stay mad at Thomas, he had that effect on people and it just wasn’t fair. In the end he gave a resigned sigh and sat down again.

“Fine, but you’re paying,” he muttered, hanging his jacket over the chair and picking up the menu. This was awkward.

Thomas, however, seemed perfectly fine. He actually seemed like he was finding this a little bit funny, and that was more frustrating to Newt than anything else, but he decided not to comment on it. Thomas had genuinely tried to help. He’d completely screwed up in helping, but the other bloke didn’t know that Newt was fighting tooth and nail not to fall for him, so Newt couldn’t actually hold that against him and still consider himself a fair person. Which meant that now he was stuck here, sitting on a date that wasn’t a date with his roommate. This was his own personal hell and he wasn’t entire sure what he’d done to deserve this.

“So, Newt, I know everything about you. Like, literally everything, the bad days that you’ve held from green-is-my-favorite-color and the good things you forgot to tell me because you were talking to him. Me. Whatever,” Thomas stated casually, running a finger down over the menu.

Newt sighed and picked up his own copy, unsure of what to say because he still wasn’t entirely comfortable in this situation. “I can only say the same,” he ended up muttering, eyes lingering at lasagna. “Do you think the lasagna here is any good?”

Thomas nodded. “Brenda said this place is great in general. She recommended it directly, actually, so I’m guessing everything here is good.”

Newt nodded silently. This was already awkward and it would probably only get worse.

“Are… are you boys ready?”

Newt flinched slightly. Oh right. The waitress. He nodded slightly, turning a tentative smile at her and ordered his lasagna and a glass of red wine, which Thomas quickly changed to a bottle. If they were both having wine they might as well and seeing as Tommy had agreed to pay Newt wasn’t about to argue with that. He might need to get a little buzz on to get through this. He was just about to apologize to the waitress when he noticed her hand resting on Thomas’ shoulder as she was pointing out wines on the menu that might suit them, and once again he felt the urgent need to punch her in her annoying, pretty face. Instead his eyes searched out her nametag and he looked at her face, clearing his throat to gain her attention. “Actually, Sonya, I think we’ll go with this one, I know it, it’s perfect for us,” he stated, trying to look as kind and patient as possible when really he just wanted her to leave. Her eyes shot up to where he was pointing on the wine card and she nodded with a bright smile in his direction.

“Sure thing, I’ll be right there with it. Would you like some ice water too?”

Newt’s shoulders fell a bit as he relaxed and he nodded before meeting Thomas’ questioning glance. Of course his dear roommate didn’t waste any time when she was gone. “You’re being weird.”

Newt snorted, “Of course I’m being weird, Thomas, I’m on a date with my roommate,”

Thomas just shrugged, a shit-eating grin flashing over his face, “Well, I mean, now we’re certain that we’re both taking someone home tonight.”

Newt wasn’t entirely sure when he had gotten so violent, but this comment made him want to punch Thomas in the face more than anything else. Or himself. Or anyone really. Also it sort of made him want to lean over the table and press his lips to Thomas’, which was definitely not a response he would have expected of himself to such a moronic comment. He sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe I’ve written with you for a month without having realized that it was you. No one else is that lame.”

Thomas’ loud laughter attracted several curious glances from the other guests in the restaurant. “Well, usually I try to play down those kinds of jokes until I actually get to know someone, it’s a relief that it’s you, really, then I won’t have to contain myself.”

Newt snorted, but couldn’t quite hide his smile, “I know, I know exactly how horrible you are.”

Thomas just winked at him exaggeratedly, “It makes things easier that you already love me, yes.”

Newt rolled his eyes again. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously lovable.”

And yet again Newt found himself blushing just a little bit, laughing at Thomas’ dorky jokes, and he was actually really, truly happy that Thomas wasn’t on at date with someone else. This was different than having Tommy and him hang out in the apartment. This was actually kind of romantic, and Thomas showed a side of himself that Newt hadn’t seen before – and genuinely wasn’t quite sure if it was a good thing for him to see. He was still fighting his inner battle to not end up falling completely for Thomas, but sitting here with him by candlelight, drinking wine and having a nice dinner definitely didn’t make things easier for him. It was way too easy to imagine this being a thing. It was way too easy to imagine standing up after this, taking Thomas’ hand and going to a walk through the moonlight in the nearest park. It was too easy to imagine the pure looks of joy on their friends’ faces when they found out. His sister would love it, Thomas’ mother had always loved him, and they already lived together. Cuddling up on the couch, sleeping in the same bed instead of going to each their room every night, taking showers together in the morning.

Newt blinked and mentally slapped himself in a brave attempt to snap out of it. Not an easy feat when Thomas was glancing at him thoughtfully. “Wanna skip? You seem a bit,” Thomas hesitated, as though he was worried he’d make Newt mad again, and the Englishman felt a stab of guilt. Why did he feel so guilty tonight? Oh, right, because he’d been a complete ass. “Uh, absent,” Thomas ended, and Newt took off his beanie, ran his fingers through his hair and sent Thomas a smile that wasn’t supposed to be coy, but possibly ended up so anyway.

“Uh, yeah, I guess I am a bit tired,” Newt muttered, slowly getting up and smiling at Thomas. “Hey, let me just get the waitress, I need to go to the loo anyway, so you can pay while I’m gone,” he instructed, clapping Thomas softly on the shoulder on his way out, and he didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help but let it linger for a couple of seconds before letting it slide off as he left, moving to the small bar at the end of the restaurant. “Hi,” he muttered, but pushed on before he could lose his courage, “Look, I was a bit weird and rude to you before, and I’m really sorry, it’s just that I got the sense that you were hitting on my-“

“Your boyfriend? Yeah, I get that a lot. Don’t worry, my girlfriend’s right over there,” the blonde said, pointing at a girl sitting at a table, furiously drawing at a big piece of paper lying there.

“Oh, he’s not, you’re not, oh.” Newt stammered, realizing that he was currently making even more of a fool of himself than he already had, “He’s not really my boyfriend, just… please don’t tell him about this. He thinks I’m being odd already.”

The girl frowned and shrugged, glancing over at Thomas quickly, “Oh, sorry I just assumed since you guys seemed so familiar. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply-“

Newt quickly shook his head, holding up his hands, “No offense taken, he’ll take care of the check, I’ll,” he trailed off for a few seconds, “I’ll go try to get rid of my embarrassment in the restroom while he pays,” he stated, prompting a smile from the blonde.

“Sure, but hey – uh, this is probably not my place at all, but you guys seem like you could use a little push and I can’t help myself. Sorry if this is out of line, but have you considered just going for it?” She looked so genuinely interested in his well-being that Newt couldn’t even find it in himself to contradict anything she’d said, so he just smiled softly at her, nodded and thanked her for her tip. What else could he do? Explain to her that it would never work? No. Not now. He wanted the rest of this night to be something he could at least remember as a non-catastrophic date. He wanted to save the memory, and it certain didn’t hurt that when he came back from the loo Tommy was already there, ready with his jacket and a smile that could almost make Newt believe that this was the real thing.

Of course Thomas didn’t take his hand and they didn’t go for a moonlight walk either – even though Thomas was walking with the bicycle next to him instead of riding it and leaving Newt to take the bus. They chit-chatted and it was actually cozy. Newt found himself laughing more than he had in a long time, and for the millionth time he sort of wished Thomas wasn’t his roommate.

Then again, if Thomas hadn’t been his roommate, he wouldn’t have been here, and if the choice was between dating Thomas and losing him forever, or just staying friends, he was definitely going with friends. He couldn’t lose Thomas in his life. He just couldn’t. So he didn’t say anything, just kept walking and pushed it from his mind and ignored the way his chest seemed to swell just a little bit every time Thomas laughed or made a joke or just looked at him in that way. He stood, waiting awkwardly, while Thomas parked his bike and they made their way up to their apartment in relative silence.

Thomas got the door, Newt once again stood there, slightly awkward, slightly sad because the evening was actually over, but mostly just happy because he actually got this much time with Thomas. They brushed their teeth together, Thomas making weird faces in the mirror and pushed softly at Newt’s shoulder with his own. The blond just laughed at him, shoving back softly and Thomas caught his wrist. “Hey, you got a little-“ Thomas trailed off, running his thumb over the corner of Newt’s mouth. “There. Got it.”

Newt could feel his entire chest and his cheeks lighting up in a color that could hardly be suiting, so he hid as much of his face as he possibly could behind a cough and put his toothbrush back in its place. “Thanks.”

Thomas made no comment, but walked out of the bathroom after Newt himself, moving after him until they got to the far wall of their living room. The two doors to their rooms had never seemed so wrong to Newt. There should only be one. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard you laughing like that,” Thomas said, amber eyes searching out Newt’s own.

“You’re a funny bloke, Tommy,” Newt said, biting his lip. Was Thomas moving a little closer? He couldn’t tell. The living room lamps weren’t lit, but he felt like the warmth from Thomas’ body heat was radiating all the way over here and it couldn’t, he wasn’t even that close. “Thanks for tonight. It was… it was really good.” He really wished that Thomas hadn’t taken his shirt off already because it was hard not to look at the muscular body bathed in moonlight in front of him.

Just as he was about to open the door to his room strong fingers closed around his wrist in an urgent grip. “Hey, Newt, don’t leave yet. I… uhm, this might be the wine talking, but would you… I don’t suppose I could get a good night kiss?”

Newt’s heart stopped for the shortest of seconds and he was just about to call Thomas out on making fun of him when Thomas apparently took his silence as a yes and warm, slightly chapped lips were pressed against him. He made a soft sound of surprise and Thomas instantly moved his head backwards, giving him space. “Oh my God, Newt, I’m so sorry, I sort of assumed that since you didn’t protest-“

“Shut up, Tommy,” and their lips were crashed together again, the only difference was that this time Newt actually had control over the situation, and he’d be damned if he didn’t make the best of it and figure out they were going to do next later on, because Thomas’ arms were tightening around him and a hard, sculpted chest was pressed against his, and there was no one in the entire world Newt would rather be kissing right now.


End file.
